What's On Tap: Minnesota State women's hockey starts the 2016-17 season with a home series against nonconference opponent RIT on Friday and Saturday at Verizon Wireless Center. The puck is scheduled to drop at 7:07 p.m., on Friday and 2:07 p.m., on Saturday.  

Looking Back at Last Season: The Mavericks finished the 2015-16 season with a 3-29-4 record, including a 0-25-3 mark in Western Collegiate Hockey Association play.

2015-16 Key Wins: The Mavericks won games against Union, RIT, and Lindenwood in 2015-16. In Minnesota State's 3-0 win over Union on Sept. 26, 2015, junior Anna Keys and junior Amanda Conway scored one goal each for the Mavericks. Senior Brianna Quade made 19 saves for the shutout victory.  Junior Hannah Davidson tallied two assists, while sophomore Emily Antony and sophomore Corbin Boyd each garnered one assist.

Davidson and sophomore Jordan McLaughlin each scored once in the Maverick's  4-2 win over RIT on Oct. 3, 2015. Keys, Davidson and sophomore Lena Duesterhoeft recorded assists in the win. Quade tallied 33 saves to pick up the win.

In the 3-2 win over Lindenwood, senior Savannah Quandt and Davidson each scored once. Boyd, Keys, juniorEmma Wittchow and sophomore Megan Hinze recorded assists.  Quade earned the win with 15 saves in net.  

Scoring The Puck: Junior Hannah Davidson is the top-returning scorer from the 2015-16 Mavericks. She tallied 17 points on eight goals and nine assists from her forward position. Sophomore forward Emily Antony was right behind Davidson with six goals and 10 assists for 16 points. From the point, junior defenseman Anna Keys garnered two goals and 11 assists for 13 points -- the seventh-highest single-season point total by a defenseman in program history.

Between the Pipes: Senior goalie Brianna Quade ranked third in the country and first in the WCHA with 1,031 saves in 35 games in 2015-16. Quade, who enters 2016-17 ranking fifth all-time at Minnesota State with 1,935 saves, recorded a career-high 52 saves against third-ranked Wisconsin in the first round of the WCHA  playoffs on Feb. 26.

Captains: Senior Anna Fiegert is the Mavericks' captain for the second consecutive year. Minnesota State's alternate captains are senior Savannah Quandt and junior Anna Keys.

Familiar Faces: Their are 18 players returning from the 2015-16 Mavericks. They are: senior Savannah Quandt, sophomore Emily Antony, junior Anna Keys, sophomore Jordan McLaughlin, junior Lindsey Coleman, junior Sara Bustad, sophomore Corbin Boyd, senior Anna Fiegert, sophomore Leila Kilduff, sophomore Steph Keryluk, junior Hannah Davidson, sophomore Megan Hinze, junior Emma Wittchow, junior Amanda Martin, sophomore Lena Duesterhoeft, junior Amanda Conway, senior Brianna Quade, and sophomore Katie Bidulka.

New Horns: The returning Mavericks are joined by six freshmen: McKenzie Sederberg, Taylor Gulenchyn, Demi Gardner, Sofia Poinar, Jordan Jackson, and Chloe Crosby. 

Scouting RIT: The Tigers finished 2015-16 with an 8-27-1 record, including a 4-15-1 mark in College Hockey America play. RIT earned two victories over Union (3-1, 2-1), and single wins against Brown (5-1), Penn State (3-0), Syracuse (2-1), Lindenwood (3-2), and Robert Morris (3-2). 

The Tiger's top offensive threat is sophomore Reagan Rust, who garnered 18 points on five goals and 13 assists in 2015-16.

 RIT's captains are seniors Taylor Thurston, Mackenzie Stone and Cassie Clayton. Clayton and Thurston collected 12 points each last season.   

Goalies senior Brooke Stoddart and sophomore Jenna de Jonge each saw playing time in 2015-16. Stoddart played in 16 games and de Jonge saw action in 12 games.

Last Time Around: Minnesota State and RIT met on the ice for the first time in 2015 with the teams splitting a two game series in Rochester, N.Y. RIT won the first game 2-1 on Oct. 2, 2015 and the Mavericks won the second game 4-2 on Oct. 3, 2015.